Erie's refugees embody the American Dream: Letters to the editor

Friday

Feb 3, 2017 at 2:01 AM

Dear President Trump: As a teacher of refugees for the past 10 years, it is hard to describe the level of sadness, anger, and frankly embarrassment that I feel over the executive order on immigration. I will have in my classroom today children from Iraq, Syria, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, Mexico and Nepal. I have met the families of each and every one of my students and can tell you the amount of respect and gratitude I have received from these families is second to none. When you shake the hand of a Sudanese family, they clasp your hand in both of their hands, bow their head and in say in English, "Thank you teacher, thank you teacher."

It has been a great pleasure of mine to serve this community — a community that we now turn our backs on. These children often come to Erie with nothing but the clothes on their backs. They work with resettlement agencies here in Erie to get the essentials and then head to school. Their parents, many of whom are educated and held meaningful jobs in their home countries, will now work hard to learn English and find whatever jobs they can here in the hopes of providing their children with the opportunity to live a better life. They are the very embodiment of the "American Dream" as they work for the betterment of their families through generational growth that they themselves will never prosper from. Where would we be today if the United States of America had denied this dream to our grandparents?

It may be no surprise that Erie is often labeled a region suffering from "brain drain." Massive layoffs in the last decade, a public school system facing a funding crisis and a regional population that is both aging and shrinking have given Erie the reputation as somewhere young people do not choose to live. However, as a young professional from Buffalo now living and working in Erie, I couldn’t disagree more. Last week as I watched the “State of the County” address delivered by Erie County Executive Kathy Dahlkemper, it was apparent to me that there are so many positive things happening in our region that are far too often overlooked. Above all, I applaud county government for prioritizing collaboration between departments, organizations and leaders in our community.

If others want to make reversing "brain drain" a priority, I suggest they continue to find new ways to collaborate as well. By working together despite the things that divide us, whether it be political party, age, gender, religion or organization, we can all come together to continue making Erie a great place to live. Revitalization in alive in our region and I am happy to launch my career in a place with leaders who have the vision to make sure Erie is a place that survives and thrives.

— Danielle Vaccaro, Erie

Harrisburg lawmakers must

resolve REAL ID mess

As Washington, D.C., is attempting to bridge a deep partisan divide, Pennsylvania is starting this year on a different note as both sides of the aisle are united in fixing a problem that has been creeping up on us for years.

In a letter to the Department of Homeland Security, Gov. Tom Wolf joined legislative leaders from both parties in the Senate and the House to make a commitment to put the state on the right track to comply with the federal REAL ID Act of 2005. The letter also requested an extension to give the state time to comply.

Thankfully, DHS relented and granted Pennsylvania an extension through June, but what was, and in many ways still is, at risk should not be understated.

If the feds had not granted the commonwealth an extension, by the end of the month Pennsylvania driver’s licenses and ID cards would not have been accepted at up to 257 federal buildings, nuclear power plants and military bases throughout the state, not to mention at countless other similar sites throughout the country.

By January 2018, our state identification would no longer be accepted for domestic air travel. Sounds crazy? It is. But, unless further action is taken, every Pennsylvanian will need a passport to fly commercially, even from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh.

The short extension granted to us from DHS is great news, as it gives the General Assembly time to address this impending nightmare.

Sen. Kim Ward, of Westmoreland County, R-39th Dist., and I have already introduced identical legislation, H.B. 150 and S.B. 133, which would resolve the underlying noncompliance issue and allow PennDOT to work toward meeting the enhanced security standards.

I urge my colleagues in the House and the Senate not to celebrate about this extension for too long. Work still needs to be done to ensure that Pennsylvania’s IDs will continue to be accepted and remain secure from fraud.

— Rep. Ed Neilson, Philadelphia, D-174th Dist.

Americans, not Mexicans

will pay for Trump's wall

Hola muchachos y muchachas, welcome to Mexico. For nearly two years, I have been hearing: “Who’s going to pay for the wall? Mexico!”

So I can only conclude that we now live in Mexico (see alternate facts). After the executive order to build the wall, and (real) Mexico’s refusal to pay for the wall, two solutions were put forward by our new administration: First, the American people will front the money (estimates range between $12 billion and $25 billion, or more), and Mexico will somehow change its mind and agree to pay us back. The money will come from, as President Donald Trump said, “the government.” That’s the taxpayers, like me, and perhaps you, but not our president, because he has not paid federal taxes for at least 18 years. He’s a genius. (See alternative genius).

The second option: Tariffs will be applied to all goods coming into the U.S. from Mexico. The figure of 20 percent was proposed. For those of you who don’t know, a tariff is a fee, like a tax, applied to the goods made in another county. Tariffs have been around a very long time, it is general knowledge that the fee is added to the selling price of the goods. So, the American people will be paying for the wall, because we will have to cover the tariffs imposed on Mexico.

Note: We do more than $300 billion a year in import business with Mexico. I know Trump thinks he is keeping his campaign promises, and honesty and integrity are important, but real integrity and honesty, not “alternate integrity and honesty.” Adios.